Thursday, October 27, 2011

10/27/2011
Strange that it was that
Noynoy, through his mouthpiece, suddenly came up with statements on
destabilization and coup efforts of which he said the Palace was aware,
when there were news reports of soldiers being demoralized over the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels killing 19 government troops
over a week ago.

But maybe not too strange, since the ploy
obviously is to divert the public attention from the bigger issue of his
being a weakling of a Commander in Chief.

It was deputy
mouthpiece Abigail Valte who brought up this matter the other day saying
that a group is taking advantage of the crisis sparked by the killing
of 19 soldiers by the MILF in Al-Barka, Basilan, without naming the
group, but adding that the group has been “spreading misinformation” and
“trying to arouse the emotions” of the people, including the military,
stressing that Malacañang was “aware” of the group’s efforts..... MORE

10/27/2011
Defending the Republic’s
territorial integrity is the President’s primordial duty, but this
important constitutional principle is being breached by the very
President and Commander in Chief when he grants armed rebel groups, such
as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front part of the Republic’s territories
to control them, even euphemistically calling these areas in Mindanao
controlled by the Moro rebels as “Areas of Temporary Stay” (ATS), as
well as allowing these rebels to even carry their arms publicly and
worse, put up checkpoints, with government troops banned from entering
these MILF-controlled areas to search for fugitives without first
seeking the permission of the MILF.

It is fact that Noynoy made
his displeasure and dismay of the MILF attack on the Special Forces
unit near the rebels’ lair in Al-Barka, Basilan, where 19 soldiers were
not only killed but disemboweled by the rebels, instead of making those
rebels pay for what they had done to the Republic’s soldiers..... MORE

10/27/2011
The latest rating of the
Ninoy Aquino International Airport-Terminal 1 (NAIA-1) came out the day
this lola was to check out of the hospital the previous week, and nobody
seemed surprised. “The Guide to Sleeping in Airports” had already
ranked it fifth worst in 2010, so what would have really jolted all 92
million of us is if it suddenly zoomed up to best airport. And yet, the
question remains. Why is our NAIA-1 the worst airport in the world?

Despite
my increasing frailty, I never traveled as much as I have this year.
From spending the last New Year in Hong Kong, to the Aawitan Kita sa
Amerika 12-show, nine-state concert tour last May in the United States,
the 14-day July/August family vacation in Rome and Florence in Italy,
now again to do what’s become Aawitan Kita sa Buong Mundo, Nov 3 to 8 in
Australia, Nov. 22 to Dec. 3 in Bahrain, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai,
and I am slated to greet 2012 in Bangkok..... MORE

10/27/2011
LOS ANGELES — The discovery
of a fishing boat and other debris in the Pacific suggests flotsam from
Japan’s killer tsunami is drifting east faster than expected,
researchers say.

The tsunami washed up to 20 million tons of
debris off the Japanese coast on March 11, and researchers in Hawaii
have developed computer models to forecast its movement and predict
where and when it could come ashore.

They had predicted that the
first landfall would be next spring on the Midway Islands, about 1,300
miles (2,100 kilometers) northwest of Honolulu on the main Hawaiian
islands in the the northern Pacific ocean.

But their calculations
have been revised after a Russian ship traveling from Hawaii to the
Russian Far East last month spied tsunami debris in the northwestern
Pacific, including the 20-foot (six-meter) boat from Fukushima, near the
the site of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant..... MORE

10/27/2011
Without human life, what for
is human dignity, what for are human rights? Without human life, what is
there in the whole world that has intrinsic significance, lasting value
or inherent purpose? Without human life, what for is progress and
development? In other words, human life is the reason and the finality
of everything else here and now. The conclusion is obvious! Human life
is only invaluable but also irreplaceable. When it is lost, lost it
remains — with everything else being but things.

No wonder that
among but the 10 Mandates of the Law of Nature, there is one that
clearly and expressly says: “You shall not kill.”

It is quite
significant and revealing that the command to respect human life is
preceded by the imperative of honoring parents who are the source of
life. More: It is also followed by the demand of respect specifically
for the relationship between men and women with their combined potential
of bringing life about..... MORE

The
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday quickly branded as
“baseless” the reported brewing coup plot against the administration due
to the reported demoralization in the military ranks following the
“weak” position taken by President Aquino against the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF).

The AFP leadership, however, failed to
explain why it claims that the brewing coup plot is without basis when
it was Malacañang that had started the coup talks with its statement on
“efforts” by an unidentified group to destabilize the Aquino
government.

At a chance interview during a book launching in Camp
Aguinaldo, AFP chief of staff Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr. admitted that the
issue of demoralization in the ranks was among the discussions he had
with military field commanders in Mindanao during his visit on Tuesday,
but claimed that the morale of the troops is high and that the AFP is
focused on its mandate..... MORE

10/27/2011
A Hong Kong court rejected a
government bid Wednesday to suspend the processing of residency
applications by foreign maids after a key ruling last month paved the
way for them to settle in the city.

Foreigners can apply to stay
in Hong Kong after seven years of uninterrupted residency, gaining
access to voting rights, benefits such as public housing and the right
to live in the Chinese city without a work visa.

But
until the landmark High Court ruling last month, immigration laws had
excluded the city’s 292,000 foreign maids from settling in the
territory.

The High Court judged the law unconstitutional in a decision that has sharply divided opinion and prompted a government appeal..... MORE

A
radio station being run by the Catholic Media Network in Occidental
Mindoro was set on fire by unidentified men before dawn yesterday.

Chief
Supt. Artemio Hicban, Mimaropa regional director (Occidental and
Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) said that the
incident took place around 1 a.m. at the dzVT located inside the
Catholic seminary compound in Barangay Labangan in Poblacion San Jose,
Occidental Mindoro. The fire was put under control at 4 a.m.

Reports
show that unidentified men poured gasoline at the place and set it on
fire while the caretaker was sleeping in his quarters.

10/27/2011
Sen. Loren Legarda yesterday
expressed support to the Philippine campaign on decent work for
domestic workers, particularly on the swift ratification of the
International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 189, otherwise known
as “Domestic Workers Convention, 2011.”

Legarda, chairman of the
Senate committee on foreign relations, said that house helpers are one
of the lowest paid workers and are usually subjected to poor working
conditions such as longer hours of work but no overtime pay and lack of
social benefits.

The ILO Convention 189 promotes and protects
rights of domestic workers and sets out measures to ensure fair terms of
employment and decent working and living conditions..... MORE

The
Supreme Court (SC) has directed the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to
find the missing witness in the disappearance of activist Jonas Burgos.

In a five-page resolution, the SC en banc required the CHR “to
undertake all available measures to obtain the affidavit of witness
Virgilio Eustaquio.”

Eustaquio had claimed one of the male
abductors of Burgos, appearing in the cartographic sketch, was one of
the “raiders” who abducted him and four others indentified as Jim
Cabauatan, police officer Jose Curameng, Ruben Dionisio and Dennis Ibona
or the “Erap 5.”

The tribunal also ordered the CHR “to submit
within 30 days…a report, with its recommendations, of its ongoing
investigation of Burgos’ abduction and the affidavit of…Estaquio, if
any, copy furnished the petitioner, the Court of Appeals (CA), the
incumbent chiefs of the AFP, the PNP and the PNP-CIDG, and all the
present respondents before the CA.”.... MORE

By Gerry Baldo 10/27/2011
The question on
whether former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
is coming back to the country after treatment abroad has been haunting
officials of the Aquino administration, a source at the House of
Representatives said yesterday.

The source, who asked for
anonymity, said there is a big possibility that the former president,
who has been accused of various crimes, including six cases of the
non-bailable offense of plunder, would come back and face the charges
against her and her spouse, former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.

“It
is unlikely that the Arroyos would ever come back and face the charges
against them,” the source said yesterday even as Elena Baustista-Horn,
the spokesman for Mrs. Arroyo, said doctors had already given the
Pampanga lawmaker the go-signal to travel..... MORE